Approaches ranged from commitment to organic as a core value in a business model to mere coincidence or afterthought. Furthermore, several of the top-scoring coffees came from roasters who don’t label their coffees as organic, even when these coffees are farmed organically. The reason? They don’t have USDA certification as organic roasters, making it illegal for them to do so.

Once purchased, the most important factor for brewing your own coffee is the freshness. It’s not a question of if your coffee will go bad, but when. When making your first cup of coffee in the morning most people would agree that making it quickly and easily is the key, which is the biggest benefit for ground coffee, but you may be sacrificing freshness and taste for convenience.

The Hawaiian Islands are known the world over for beautiful beaches, diverse microclimates, and both active and dormant volcanoes — pretty much paradise, as the cliché goes. Hawaiian culture is both uniquely American and, in many ways, happily incongruous with mainstream American culture. One island in particular, Hawai’i Island (often called the Big Island), produces […]

If you're a no-frills coffee drinker, this simple but flavorful Colombian Peaks pod from ubiquitous coffee brand Eight O'Clock Coffee is for you. It has a well-balanced flavor with a straightforward coffee taste that shines through. Reviewers claim that these pods quickly replaced their morning trip to the coffee house after one taste. These coffee pods are compatible with Keurig single-serve coffee machines.
Consider how you take your coffee. If you drink your coffee black, then you might want to lean towards the brands on our list with the highest reviews for taste. On the other hand, if you take your coffee with milk and sugar, concentrate on the prices. Additives and flavorings can mask the taste of the coffee a bit, so you don’t necessarily need the higher quality beans.
Both of these amazing organic K-Cup® coffees take it one step further and are Fair Trade certified. To read more about the benefits of Fair Trade coffees, click here. Fair Trade helps to negate the increased cost of growing organically. Surprisingly, in the case of organic K-Cup® pods, this cost has not been passed on to the consumer. The only way to thank these farmers is for coffee wholesalers to abide by a Fair Trade certification, so farmers are not tempted to succumb to cheaper conventional methods.
The most exciting thing here is the fact that the beans are air roasted. Not many coffee brands do this because the process is complicated and takes quite a while. As a matter of fact, less than 1% of all coffee is roasted this way. However, for Kona, it provided unique taste as well as ease of use in different type of coffee makers, French press coffee makers, and cold brew machines.

Newman’s Own Special Blend is organic, fair-trade certified coffee that provides a strong taste profile with the ease of the K-cup. In addition, this freshly roasted coffee has an amazing, pure smell that will take your favorite daily routine to a higher level. The coffee itself is made up of a composition of medium-roasted Central American coffees and darker-roasted Indonesian beans.

This specific Equal Exchange Organic coffee is their Breakfast blend. It is in fact a blend of their Medium roast and Fresh Roasted coffees. It has a great body, terrific aroma, but the taste and aftertaste seem to lack a bit. However, everyone's taste for coffee is different. If you like a sweeter tasting coffee with chocolate undertones, great because that is what this one has. If not, you probably will not like this one. Customers have also reported that the Breakfast Blend has low acidity which is great to see. High acidity can ruin an otherwise great coffee.
Update: I figured I’d best ‘figure’ it out for myself. Purchased a) (Nicaragua) Granges Cosechas, 100% Arabica, Med.Roast b) (Hawaiian) Peaberry, 100% Arabica, Med Roast c) (Ethiopian) Yirgacheffee , Mild Roast. I make coffee 16 oz at 7-8 a.m. and, again, Cookie-time 2:30 pm. So far, the Yirgacheffe is my preferred, but , honestly, they are all beginning to taste the same. I make all exactly the same way in grind & brewing time. All are very pleasant. The only thing missing from the bag information is the estimated strength of caffeine within. Perhaps that is not measurable, but I can definitely feel the rush after consumption. Had to stop the leftover, very pleasant, iced coffee sipping between 6-8 p.m. because my sleeping hours dropped from 6-7 to 5-6. Not enough sleep. Just thought I’d share this information.
Other coffees appearing on the list were grown in 16 different countries. The most frequently appearing origins were Ethiopia and Kenya, with four coffees each. Origins with two coffees each on the list included Burundi, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Sumatra, and Tanzania. Origins appearing on the list with one coffee each included the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Peru, Rwanda, Uganda, Hawaii (United States), and Yemen.
As coffee consumption increased, and the value of coffee beans as an agricultural export grew, many farmers moved coffee off of hard-to-reach forested hillsides and grew it at lower elevations, in dedicated coffee fields, for ease of cultivation and harvesting. This transition from coffee as a plant grown in forested mountains to a plant grown on plantations has had an array of far-reaching effects.

Fair Trade International upholds social, economic and environmental development standards (Fairtrade International, 2015). While some of these standards are required to receive certification, some are simply encouraged. For example, they are required to pay the minimum price, offer sufficient health conditions, and cannot use child labor. On the other hand, growing coffee organically is not required, but it is encouraged and rewarded.

One of those towns that got lucky, relatively early on, Arizona's second city still knows coffee best, at least around these parts. Right now, the city is all about this super-mod operation, featuring two high-design hangouts—one at Presta's roasting plant, the other inside the quite chic Mercado San Agustin, these days one of Tucson's favorite gathering places, and for good reason.

When I moved away from a grocery store that carried Equal Exchange three or four years ago, I remember checking, and you had to order it directly from Equal Exchange, and wait for standard shipping. I guess thanks to the Whole Foods merger, now you can get this right on Amazon. I was excited to discover this, but the mislabeling is a bummer! Amazon, please fix!
The Valhalla from Deathwish is nothing different in terms of maintaining the quality and certifying their products. This product too has earned the Fairtrade certification which you will find on the packet. Additionally, this product maintains its level of quality by earning the organic USDA certification. Despite using a blend of Arabica and Robusta.
Need further proof that great coffee can (and does) happen just about anywhere, nowadays? At least a couple of hours from the nearest big city and convenient mostly to nature—beautiful Blackwater Canyon, for example—this multi-roaster and unofficial community center anchors an array of independent businesses on an old coal town's handsome and very historic main drag.
Promising review for the Protein & Real Coffee All-In-One Meal Replacement: "I bought this based on the good reviews, but was skeptical about the taste; coffee-flavored protein sounded too good to be true! BUT, I just got done shaking up my first drink and was blown away by how great the Vanilla Latte flavor tastes! I'm definitely adding this to my daily regimen and will get around to trying the other flavors. If you’re a coffee fan, this is definitely for you." —Cheyenne

The very day we spoke with several roasters in New England whose coffees are featured in this month’s tasting report, Dunkin’ Brands, parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts (now rebranding simply as Dunkin’) and headquartered in Massachusetts, announced plans for expansion. And the company’s “Blueprint for Growth” centers not on doughnuts, but coffee, including the relaunch […]

A cruise can be the ultimate vacation destination, especially if you are someone who has a difficult time deciding what exactly you want to do while you are vacationing. Cruises are amazing because not only are you able to see different parts of the world, you're also able to have access to a wide array of activities including shows, amazing dinners, and even possibly gambling.